


Unconventional

by Erenn



Category: Destiny (Video Game)
Genre: Destiny Week, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-29
Updated: 2018-03-09
Packaged: 2018-12-21 10:29:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11942241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erenn/pseuds/Erenn
Summary: Not all Ghosts meet their Guardians in the conventional way.  And not all Guardians fit the conventional mold.





	1. Innocence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She has searched for centuries, only to find what she was looking for right in front of her.

She has been searching for her Guardian for hundreds of years.

She’s been all around the Earth – at least twice by now. She’s even hitched rides with Guardians going to Venus and Mars, hoping to find someone in the ruins of the Golden Age. The jungles and sands were just as bare for her as the ruins of Earth. The Ghost stayed on Mars until her Light was nearly depleted, and it was only by the grace of a passing Guardian and Ghost that she was found and taken back to the City.

The only connection she has to her as of yet unfound Guardian is a name. Renata. The name she knows her Guardian will give her. She clings to this name – in their time in the City, the unpaired Ghosts whisper these names back and forth to each other. _Caleb. Sky. Haven. Renata._ The names are reminders that there is someone else out there for them – their partner in the Light.

She wanders the City now, the gentle presence of the Traveler reinvigorating her. She peers inside buildings and feeling the dim Light of the City’s many citizens. A few look at her curiously, children pointing and waving, but otherwise she doesn’t get much attention.

The Ghost wanders the streets for days, gradually drifting through the districts. The dim Light of the passing citizens barely registers on her radar. The Light of the average City citizen is too weak to harness. Sometimes there are exceptions – but it’s rare. So rare that hardly anyone even bothers looking. The amount of Guardians born with the Light can be counted on a human hand. 

Perhaps that’s why she does it. If no one else has bothered to look here, then maybe she can.

So she wanders, scanning curious citizens before wandering off without a word. She flits between buildings and residences, down into streets and alleyways. Nothing. Not yet. But as she drifts, she has a _feeling_. Something stirs within her. Is this what it’s like? Is she close?

The feeling only grows, and she can’t help the excitement welling up within her. The Light sings as she zips through City streets, causing a couple people to duck out of the way in alarm. All this time she’s been searching for her Guardian, only for the Light to call to her within the City itself.

The song intensifies, so overwhelming she’s quaking in her shell, and she stops. There’s a window next to her, and she knows her Guardian is in there. Their Light calls out to her, reaches for her, and she surges forward to meet it. The window is closed, but that doesn’t matter to the Ghost. Quaking, she transmats herself inside. But what she sees makes her freeze in place.

No one is looking at her. It’s a hospital room, that much is certain. And sitting in a bed is a woman, holding something tiny and unmoving in her arms. And that tiny, unmoving thing is brimming with Light.

She backs away in horror, into a corner where no one will look. No. This is a child, this is an infant. This cannot be her Guardian. Guardians born with the Light are rare, exceptionally rare. Some have been found as children, but never so young. Not like this.

She considers leaving. No one sees her, no one is paying attention to her. The mother cradles the infant in her arms while doctors stand by silently. She’s so _tiny_. Tiny and lifeless, and yet the Light bends around her, its song filling the room. Calling out to **her**.

She reaches out in turn and the infant’s Light latches onto hers, an almost curious nature to it. The body may be still and cold, but the soul is vibrant, curious, brimming with so much Light it threatens to overwhelm her.

It is then she realizes that she cannot simply leave.

The Light intensifies as she shifts closer. She faintly registers the entire room freezing, watching her with wide eyes. She hovers over the still body, looking down at the tiny, still body hastily wrapped in a blanket. Stillborn. Has never even opened her eyes. Not yet.

Every Ghost knows exactly what to do here. But that doesn’t make it any less terrifying.

She reaches out her Light again, meeting the waiting Light of the child – her Guardian. The connection snaps into place, strong and warm, like it’s always been there. She draws Light and life back and pours it through their bond, and the Light sings in approval.

The infant takes a breath. The room erupts into chaos.

But all Renata can see is the pair of dark eyes staring up at her, full of life and curiosity.

Like she knows.

  


Twenty years later, when Zufash asks her how she found her, the both of them bathed in the light of the sunset over the City, Renata can only laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for reading! This is the first thing I've ever actually published. The Guardian here is my character Zufash Yousafzai, I'm going to be using her for Destiny Week prompts.
> 
> EDIT: Since I never actually FINISHED the prompts (oops) I'm going to just use this as a place where I can publish drabbles about Zufash.
> 
> This was originally for Destiny Week - Day 1: Ghosts.


	2. Not Today

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even here, under the protection of the Light, the Darkness still plagues her.

Growing up in a place so full of Light does not mean that her dreams are free of Darkness.

Though she is a child still – _for now, anyway_ – Zufash is still a Guardian. And Guardians have many abilities – some easier to handle than others.

She has nightmares.

The nights Zufash wakes screaming, trashing and tangled in her blankets, are far too many. On these nights Renata hovers over her and fusses, whispering soothing words while she quivers beneath her blankets. Usually she is able to soothe the girl back to sleep.

This is not one of those nights.

She wakes screaming and sobbing, curling into herself, and not even Renata can comfort her. She can’t shake the feeling of the Darkness choking her, wrapping itself around her and strangling her. _Snuffing her out snuffing **everyone** out, the City in ruins the Traveler in pieces-_

“We’re safe here,” Renata argues, but Zufash doesn’t _**feel**_ safe.

The little Warlock has tears running down her face still, her thoughts running at lightspeed. She cannot force the thoughts and images out of her mind and she just wants to scream and **hide**. At the edge of her awareness, a familiar presence prickles with concern through the Light, and the girl looks up.

Immediately Zufash throws the covers off herself, cold despite the warmth of the room, and sprints out. She feels Renata’s alarm through their bond, the Ghost calling after in concern, but she doesn’t care. Her bare feet slap against the stone floors, tears still running down her face, as she runs out of the living quarters and up the stairs, shoving the doors open with a bang that echoes through Tower North as she emerges into the cold night air.

She skids to a halt, shaking, and covers her face with her hands, fingers grasping at her hair. _It’s too much, it’s all too much-_

The gentle presence in the Light is felt right before she feels a pair of hands on her shoulders. “Zufash,” a familiar voice intones gently, concern radiating into the Light. The gloved hands gently pry her hands off her face. “Look at me, little one.”

The child sniffles before opening her eyes, seeing the Speaker kneeling at her level, head tilted to the side and concern leaking into the Light. Zufash hiccups, rubbing her eyes as the tears continue to fall. “Another nightmare?” 

She nods hurriedly, hands rubbing at teary eyes. Renata begins to mumble an apology, saying she tried to calm Zufash, but a look from the Speaker silences her, and she drifts to hover by his own Ghost, simply watching the two of them.

Lip quivering, she bursts into tears again, and he immediately envelops her into a hug. “Shh…it’s alright,” the Speaker says softly as the little Warlock sobs, memories of nightmares flickering at the edge of her mind as she sobs into his shoulder.

It takes her a while to calm, her sobbing turning to sniffles. At some point he’d picked her up, and now the child peers out at the City and the Traveler as the tears dry on her cheeks, her head laid against the Speaker’s shoulder.

It’s just the two of them – the doors are closed. The Speaker’s soothing presence has calmed her, for the most part. He turns slightly, his own gaze landing on the Traveler, before his attention returns to the girl. “What did you see?”

Zufash shivers, and it is not just from the cold air. She clings to him a little tighter, burying her face against his shoulder. “Darkness…” she mumbles, shaking as the tears threaten to overwhelm her again.

The Speaker hushes her softly, tilting his head so that her gaze is level with his own. “And what do we say to the Darkness?”

She sniffles, wiping some of her tears away. Quietly, she mumbles, “Not today.”

“Not _**ever**_ ,” he vows in return.

She believes him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally for Destiny Week, Day 3: NPCs.
> 
> The Speaker is my favorite and I'll fight everyone. 
> 
> Zufash, after being revived by her Ghost as an infant, is taken to the Tower. The Speaker opts to raise her himself, and sees her as a daughter, and she likewise sees him as her father. The depiction of the Speaker here is actually a friend of mine's - she helped me develop Zufash alongside him.


	3. Harmony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are some things you learn best in calm. There are some things you learn best in the midst of a storm.

“Warlocks like us-” Ikora says matter-of-factly. “Are rare.”

Zufash is ten and has a storm simmering beneath her skin – she is young and impatient and she knows this. Her Light is overbearing, almost threatening to spill over. In her current state she is volatile, untrained.

She, at this point, has little formal training. Ever since her Light manifested as a toddler, she has been taught to control and contain it until the Speaker and Vanguard believed she was ready to learn. Throughout the years she’s been taught many skills, but most of them involved movement and minor manifestations. There are, after all, many people down in the City, and even some here in the Tower, that object to teaching a child the ways of war. Despite her begging, they had not yielded throughout the years.

Until now.

She and Ikora stand alone in one of the Tower’s many training rooms, Zufash still blinking sleep out of her eyes. Ikora had come to wake her up at what the preteen viewed as an ungodly hour, shoving some new robes in her hands and telling her to get up and get dressed.

Groggily, she’d obliged. Which is why she is now standing where she is. The robes she wears are not unlike those of a newly-rezzed Guardian, except longer and white in color. Her bond glows dully with the symbol of their order.

“What do you mean?” she asks, tilting her head.

Ikora moves over to her, her aura of calm brushing against Zufash’s own. “Stormcallers, young Light.” She’s a bright star in the Light, and Zufash can sense the manipulation of energy right before Ikora holds out a hand to her, lightning dancing along her fingers. “Warlocks are naturally attuned to Solar and Void. Arc is their opposite – it is hardest for a Warlock to master. It takes much work for us to channel Arc, for it is an undertaking not everyone can handle.”

She holds her hand out to Zufash, Arc still crackling between her knuckles. With only a moment of hesitation, Zufash stretches out her own hand to take Ikora’s, feeling the slightly jolt ast the Arc surges up her arm. But it does not harm her. Ikora lets go of her hand and she pulls back, letting her Light out in a trickle to sustain the energy.

Zufash looks up to see Ikora smiling. “And Warlocks like _**you**_ , Zufash, are even rarer. You were born as a Stormcaller.”

The girl lets the energy dissipate, waving a hang. She looks up at Ikora expectantly, tilting her head. “So what now?”

Ikora chuckles, placing her hands on Zufash’s shoulders. “Now, with Guardians who wish to becomes Stormcallers, normally I throw them into the heart of the Storm, so to speak. If they return unscathed, a connection established, then I will train them.”

Zufash balks, staring up at Ikora wide-eyed. She wouldn’t…?

“But since you were born a Stormcaller, young Light, that isn’t necessary.” Her tone is teasing, and she reaches out and ruffles Zufash’s hair – the girl swats her hands away and makes an indignant sound, much to Ikora’s obvious amusement.

“Oh thank the Traveler.” Zufash’s shoulders slump in relief. 

Ikora looks at her, the ghost of a smile on her lips, and crosses her arms. “But enough chatter. For years we have taught you to hold back – to keep your Light safely shut behind a dam. Pooling but contained. But now we need to teach you how to open the flood gates. Are you ready?”

Exchanging a glance with her Ghost, Zufash straightens and takes a deep breath. “I’ve been ready for years,” she says breathlessly, unable to stop from grinning. Her excitement flares into the Light, coursing through her entire being and leaving her breathless.

Her statement is met with a chuckle. “So you think. Then let us begin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thank you once again for reading! And thank you for all the kudos, I never thought I'd actually publish anything let alone get kudos on it.
> 
> I hope I did Ikora justice - out of all the drabbles I've written this is probably the one I'm least satisfied with.
> 
> This was originally written for Destiny Week - Day 5: Vanguard.


	4. Darkness Cannot Drive Out Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They say Light shines brighest in the Dark. And it is into the Dark they must go.

The first time she stepped foot on the Dreadnaught it was like she was being strangled.

This time is only slightly less worse.

Zufash stumbles as Renata transmats her down at the rendezvous point, and one of the team’s Hunters, Bran-5, reaches out, steadying her. The Warlock gives him a grateful look before he steps away, and she looks up to see the other four members of the team checking their weapons. She checks her HUD, making sure the entire fireteam has landed, their Ghosts pinging before her Ghost opens a connection to the Tower.

“This is Dawn, we’re on the ground.” The callsign feels foreign on her tongue – she hasn’t had to _use_ it very much.

_“We read you,”_ Comes Zavala’s immediate response. _“You are a go. We have fireteams clearing your way to the portal – you are free to proceed.”_

The raid team’s other Warlock, Laine, takes a shuttering breath as they move through the inner workings of the Dreadnaught, mercifully clear of enemies. “So this is it,” she says, voice wavering. “It ends here. One way or another.”

The words are ominous, and Zufash shudders, but keeps walking, her auto rifle clenched in her hands. The Darkness is not the only thing making her skin crawl.

“Way to be ominous” someone else chimes, a Hunter named Ellend, only for one of the team’s Titans to elbow her quite forcefully in the ribs, mumbling for her to be quiet. There is silence except for the coordination between the Tower and other fireteams in the area. The portal they must pass through is deep within the massive ship – it will take hours to walk to, and they’ve stretched the limits of the transmat beacons. Other Guardians have been called into make sure the area is clear. The Hive and Taken aren’t making things easy, and they need to get to that portal.

Zufash wishes _**Laine**_ was the one leading this raid. She was the one who led the fireteam into the dark below that killed Crota. But the other Guardian had insisted, saying that they’d need Zufash’s strong Light in a place so full of Darkness. It was with great reluctance that the Vanguard agreed, and even greater reluctance that the Speaker let her go along.

There is silence for what seems like hours – and indeed it may have been. There is gunfire in the distance, and they run into a few sparse groups of Taken and Hive – but the other Guardians seem to be keeping their enemies occupied.

Cayde’s voice breaks the silence. _“Really wish we’d send more than six people into shit like this,”_ the Hunter Vanguard mumbles through comms, worry clear in his voice.

_“Any more than six and teams have trouble coordinating,”_ comes Zavala’s firm response, but Zufash can hear the tension in his voice. _“It is an optimal number.”_

The other reason is left unsaid: that six Guardians is a far easier loss to compensate for, if they are lost to the Darkness.

_“Quiet on comms,”_ the Speaker commands, sounding obviously stressed, and everything falls silent again. Zufash can almost see the Vanguard Hall in her mind’s eye – Cayde and Zavala coordinating with fireteams and pouring over maps and holograms. Ikora, Eris, and the Speaker leafing through files from the archives, Eris’ own writings, and Toland’s journal.

Trying to give them the best chance they can.

A Nightstalker materializes out of nowhere, and Zufash nearly jumps several feet into the air, the thick Darkness in the area preventing her from sensing them coming. She feels the flicker of their amusement in the Light before they stand, nodding at her. “Area’s clear. We’ll cover you.” They eye each member of the fireteam, before their gaze lands on Zufash. “Traveler’s Light go with you.”

“Thank you, Guardian,” Zufash replies sincerely. The Nightstalker melts back into the shadows again, and Zufash takes a deep breath and leads their team forward.

_“You have six other fireteams covering you,”_ Ikora says as the team of six strides into a hallway with grotesque thrall statues. _“They can hold the Hive and Taken back, but not forever. Doubtless they have realized what we’re doing by now.”_

“Then let’s make haste,” Zufash responds, motioning for the fireteam to move out.

The Warlock looks around, taking in the six statues. They look like they should be holding something. “Renata, relay this. What am I looking at here?”

Ikora’s voice fades out for a moment, joined by two others as a discussion takes place. It’s a minute before someone speaks, answering her question. _“The statues control the rupture,”_ Eris relays. _“You will need keys to open them – relics that sync to each statue. They should be nearby, under heavy guard.”_

_“I’ll get some fireteams on that, they’ll clear them out and you can grab the relics and go,”_ Cayde says quickly. _“We gotta make this fast, there’s a lot of enemies pouring into the area.”_

“On it. Teams of three. Ellend, Darra, with me. Laine, you take Bran and Ender. Let’s move!”

_“The portal is not unguarded,”_ Eris warns. _“A shadow of Crota, an echo of what he was, will appear once you open the doorway. If you wish to pass through, you must kill it!”_

“A shadow of Crota, you say?” Laine says, and Zufash can hear the grin in her voice. “I know exactly what to do with that.”

 

The portal is opened. The six of them stand before it, staring at the shimmering green surface. The sound of gunfire draws closer – the Guardians buying them time are being driven back. It takes all of Zufash’s courage to project an era of calm. The sheer amount of Darkness radiating from the portal puts the oppressive aura of the Dreadnaught to shame.

_“There is another team on standby,”_ the Speaker says. _“And if anything is amiss we will be sending them in after you.”_ Zufash doesn’t question how he will know – she trusts his word. _“Traveler’s Light guide you, Guardians. Go forth and let Light shine out of Darkness.”_ Her heart wrenches at how _stressed_ he sounds.

_“End this, once and for all,”_ Zavala says, his voice full of confidence. _“The strength of the City is behind you.”_

_“You will be on your own once you step through that portal,”_ Ikora continues. _“Watch out for each other. Your Light will sustain not only you and your Ghost, but each other.”_

_“And be careful,”_ Eris warns. _“The night is Dark and full of terrors.”_

“We will,” Laine promises, determination in her voice. She glances at the people around them, taking a deep breath. “I started this. Now I will end it.”

_“But most importantly, come back alive.”_ Cayde cuts in. _“Godspeed, Guardians.”_

“See you on the other side,” Laine says, nodding at Zufash. She takes a deep breath, steeling herself, and steps through the portal, vanishing in a flash.

Ellend steps in after her, and Darra after her. One by one, each of the members of the fireteam step through, until Zufash is the only one remaining on this side of the portal. Outside of the throne world.

She’s about to step through when Renata chimes in through their connection. **[“Zufash, private transmission.”]**

“Put it through.”

She chimes, indicating that a connection has been established, and all is quiet for a moment. The distant sound of gunfire and the screeching of Hive is the only thing she hears. _“I mean it,”_ the Speaker says after a moment of silence. _“Come back alive.”_

“I will,” Zufash whispers back, emotion threatening to overwhelm her. “I promise.”

_“Zufash…”_

“I know, Father.” Zufash smiles then, beneath her helmet. Her voice cracks when she speaks next. “And what do we say to the Darkness?”

The Speaker chuckles before he replies. _“Not today.”_

“Not **_ever_** ,” Zufash vows.

She steps through the portal and into the unknown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, long time no see! Thank you once again for reading, I really appreciate it!
> 
> This is when Zufash is older, and formally the Speaker's apprentice as well as his adopted daughter. She's chosen to lead the fireteam to kill Oryx because of her strong Light. And the interaction with the Vanguard, Eris, and the Speaker is there because I always thought they'd take an active role in things such as raids more than they're portrayed doing
> 
> Also for reference my Speaker is canon divergent, the comics DID NOT happen in his canon
> 
> This was originally written for Destiny Week, Day 4: Fireteam


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